Yarn clamp and cutter



y 1970 c. R. KINGDON 3,513,883

YARN CLAMP AND CUTTER Filed Dec. 10. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

INVENTOR CHARLES R. KINGDON ATTORNEY May 26, 1970 c. R. KINGDON 3,513,883

YARN CLAMP AND CUTTER Filed Dec. 10, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4 Fl G. 5

INVENTOR OHARLES R. KINGDON ATTORN'EY United States Patent O 3,513,883 YARN CLAMP AND CUTTER Charles Russell Kingdon, Leicester, Mass., assignor to Crompton & Knowles Corporation, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Dec. 10, 1968, Ser. No. 782,542 Int. Cl. D036 45/50 US. Cl. 139-122 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A yarn clamping and cutting device which has a fixed cutting blade, a movable clamping blade and a movable combination clamping and cutting blade interposed between the cutting and clamping blade. In the open position, the clamping blade is slightly spaced from and hes over the cutting blade to form one side of a V-opening, the combination blade forming the other side. The combination blade and clamping blade move towards each other to clamp a yarn placed in the V opening and continue on past each other until the combination blade and cutter blade cooperate to cut the yarn.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a device for clamping and cutting filling yarn in a loom having a stationary supply of filling yarn and relates more particularly to those looms using a gripper shuttle for inserting the filling yarn in the shed. One example of such a loom is fully disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,376,900 issued Apr. 9, 1968 in the name of Oscar V. Payne.

In looms of the type such as that shown in the Payne patent, it is necessary that the yarn be retained by either the shuttle or a clamping device at all times. As the shuttle is boxed, its grippers are opened to receive the filling yarn from the clamping and cutting device so that it may carry the yarn through the shed for the next pick. Once the yarn has been carried through the shed, it must be clamped and cut near the selvage by the clamping and cutting device and held for later presentation to the shuttle.

Previous clamping devices which have been used consisted of three blades; a cutting blade, a clamping blade, and a combination blade which cooperates with the cutting and clamping blades. Some devices operate so that the cutting blade and clamping blades are stationary and the combination blade moves therebetween to cut and clamp a yarn. In either case, a great deal of difficulty has been encountered in trying to hold the filling yarn during the yarn recovery phase. Cutting and clamping occur simultaneously and very often the clamping blades do not have a good grip on the yarn and lose it as it is cut.

One attempt to solve the above problem has been to place the clamping blade closer to the combination blade when the blades are in their open position so that the yarn is clamped before it is cut. Since the blade opening will be determined by the position of the clamping blade, the cutter blade has to be positioned further away from the combination blade when the blades are in the open position. A drawback to this solution is that a greater amount of loom time will be devoted to accommodate the greater distance between cutting edges of the cutting blade and combination blade. If this extra time is compensated by changing the leverage ratio of the mechanism which operates the blades, then greater operating forces will be required. Additional forces will cause increased wear and breakage of parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a Clamping and cutting device which clamps 3,513,883 Patented May 26, 1970 a filling yarn substantially before it is out without any of the disadvantages recited above.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a clamping and cutting device which has superior clamping characteristics in holding a yarn before and after the yarn is cut.

A still further object is the provision of simple and effective lever means to operate the blades in accomplishing the principal object of the invention.

These objects are accomplished by providing a clamping and cutting device in which only the cutting blade is held stationary. The clamping blade is aligned with the cutting blade to form one side of a V-shaped opening and the combination blade forms the other side of the opening when the blades are in the open position. When the device operates to clamp and cut a yarn placed in the opening, the clamping and combination blades are moved towards each other so that the filling is clamped, the clamping and combination blades continue to move past each other until the combination blade cooperates with the cutting blade to cut the yarn. The yarn is therefore clamped very quickly and substantially earlier than it is cut. This insures that the yarn will always be securely held before it is cut. The device of the present invention also has superior clamping characteristics in that the amount of overlap of the clamping and combination blades provides additional clamping area between these blades.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other advantages of the invention will be apparent when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view at one side of a loom with the clamping and cutting device of the present invention in the position just prior to clamping and cutting a yarn which has been inserted in the shed by the filling carrier;

FIG. 2 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of the clamping and cutting device with the blades in open position;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation looking in the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation looking in the direction of arrow 4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation looking in the direction of arrow 5 in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the clamping and cutting device with the blades in open position;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the clamping and cutting blades in the open position with a yarn in position to be clamped and cut;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but showing the clamping and combination blades in yarn clamping position; and

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIGS. 7 and 8 but showing the cutting and combination blade in yarn cutting position.

Referring to FIG. 1, only a portion of the right-hand side of the loom is shown and includes a lay L shown in position just prior to beatup and a filling carrier lever 12. This lever is the same as is shown in Payne, supra, and is shown in yarn retrieval position. Disposed upon lever 12 are a plurality of clamping and cutting devices 14 of the present invention. One of the devices (the one to the extreme right) is in yarn retrieval position with its blades in the open position to retrieve a yarn Y. It is to be understood that there is a similar carrier lever 12 and clamping and cutting device 14 on the other end of the loom but of opposite hand. As more fully disclosed in Payne, supra, after yarn Y has been inserted into the shed formed by warp W, lever 12 swings out over the fabric F carrying devices 14, one of which is indexed into a position to clamp and cut yarn Y near the edge or selvage of fabric F and to hold onto yarn Y for later presentation to the filling carrier (not shown).

Referring to FIGS. 2-6, one of the devices 14 is shown in greater detail. It should be understood that the other devices 1-4 shown in FIG. 1 are exactly the same. The devices on the opposite of the loom are the same except that they are of opposite hand, the difference being in the orientation of the blades.

The clamping and cutting device 14 composes a body 16 with a hole 18 for mounting it on a suitable support, not shown, carried by arm 12. Device 14 also comprises three blades: a fixed cutting blade 20, a pivoted clamping blade 30, and a combination blade 32. Fixed cutting blade 20 is held to the bottom of the body 16 by a stud 22, see FIG. 6, which is threaded into the body. The blade 20 has a projection 24 which fits into a slot 26 in a downwardly projecting portion 28 of body 16 to prevent blade 20 from rotating on stud 22. Clamping blade 30- is pivoted on stud 22 at a point above cutting blade 20. Combination blade 32 is also pivoted on stud 22 between clamping blade 30 and cutting blade 20. Combination blade 32 has a cutting edge 34 which cooperates with a serrated cutting edge 36 of cutting blade 20. Blade 32 also has a clamping edge 38, see FIG. 2, which cooperates with a clamping edge 40 of clamping blade 30. A flat spring 42 helps to maintain all three blades in cooperating alignment. Clamping blade 30 has an ear 44 which extends to one side of body 16, as shown in FIG. 3, and combination blade 32 has an ear 46 which extends to the other side of body 16 as shown in FIG. 4. Ears 44 and 46 are for a purpose to be described.

The blade operating mechanism which forms part of device 14 comprises a lever 48 pivoted at 50 to body 16. Lever 48 has a portion 51 which extends from body 16 and through which the device is operated by the loom in a manner similar to that disclosed in Payne, supra. One end of a connecting link 52 is pivotally attached at 53 to lever 48. A pair of spaced bell crank levers 54 and 56 are pivoted at 57 to opposite sides of body 16 and are pivotally connected to opposite sides of the other end of connecting link 52. Lever 54 has a downwardly extending slot 58 which engages previously-mentioned car 46 of combination blade 32. Lever 56 has a similar slot which engages ear 44 of clamping blade 30. From the foregoing description, it will be seen that when lever 48 is rocked around pivot 50, bell crank levers 54 and 56 will be rocked around pivot 57. Any rocking of levers 54 and 56 will displace cars 46 and 44 respectively and cause clamping blade 30 and combination blade 32 to rock in opposite directions on stud 22.

Body 16 has a pair of extending guide members 60 and 62 which help to guide connecting link 52 but are not critical in this respect. The more important function of members 60 and 62 is to act as stops to limit the motion of the blade operating mechanism. The upper surfaces of members 60' and 62 act as stops for the downward motion of lever 48. The lower surfaces of members 60 and 62 act as stops for the upward motion of levers 54 and 56. These stops insure that the blades will be accurately positioned in either their open yarn receiving position or in their yarn cutting and clamping position. A yarn guide 64 projects from body 16 at a point above the blades for guiding a yarn to be clamped and cut.

OPERATION OF YARN CLAMPING AND CUTTING DEVICE The operation of the device can best be understood by referring particularly to FIGS. 7-9. The open position of the blades for reception of a yarn to be clamped and cut is shown in FIG. 7. When the blades are in the open position, clamping blade 30 is aligned directly over cutting blade 20 and together they form one side of a V- shapcd opening as seen in FIG. 6. Combination blade 32 forms the other side of the V-shaped opening. Yarn Y is shown in the V-shaped opening in FIG. 7 with the clamping and cutting blades on one side and combination blade on the other. As extending portion 51 of lever 48 is depressed by the loom mechanism, clamping blade 30 and combination blade 32 move toward each other in the direction of the arrows as shown in FIG. 8. Surfaces 40 and 38 of blades 30 and 32 respectively come together first to clamp the yarn Y as seen in FIG. 8. As blades 30 and 32 continue to move, surfaces 40 and 38 move past each other until cutting edge 34 of combination blade 32 fully engages the cutting edge 36 of cutting blade 20, thereby cutting yarn Y as shown in FIG. 9. FIGS. 7-9 clearly show that the yarn Y is clamped considerably earlier than it is cut. Since blades 30 and 32 also overlap considerably earlier than it is cut, additional clamping area is provided for holding the yarn before and after the yarn is cut. As shown in FIG. 9, yarn Y extends from a vertical position around surface 40 and then extends between the bottom of blade 30 and the top of blade 32. The portion of yarn Y which extends from blade 30 to the cutting edge of blade 20 prO- vides a reserve to compensate for any slight slippage of yarn between clamping surfaces.

At a later time in the loom cycle when the clamping and cutting device is moved into position to transfer yarn Y to the shuttle, the loom operates lever 48 by pushing up on extending portion 51. Pivot 53 is lifted, thereby lifting link 52 and rocking levers 54 and 56 to return the blades to their open position to release the yarn as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Having particularly described one embodiment of the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patents is:

1. A clamping and cutting device for a yarn in a loom comprising:

(a) a body portion adapted to be secured to a support;

(b) a cutting blade fixed to one end of said body;

(c) a clamping blade pivotally mounted on said body;

(d) a pivoted combination blade interposed between said cutting blade and said clamping blade, having a cutting edge for cooperating With said cutting blade and a clamping edge for cooperating with said clamping blade; and

(e) means mounted on said body and operatively connected to said combination blade and said clamp ing blade for positioning said clamping blade and said combination blade to form a yarn receiving opening defined by said cutting and clamping blades on one side and said combination blade on the other, said means also being effective for moving said combination blade toward said clamping blade and said cutting blade while simultaneously moving said clamping blade toward said combination blade to clamp and cut a yarn placed in said opening.

2. A clamping and cutting device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said opening is substantially V-shaped and the cutting edge of said cutting blade is substantially aligned with the clamping edge of said clamping blade when said device is in a substantially fully opened position.

3. A clamping and cutting device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cutting blade has a serrated cutting edge.

4. A clamping and cutting device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means comprises:

(a) a first lever pivoted on said body, a portion of which projects from said body for moving said lever;

(b) a bell crank lever pivoted on said body, one end of which is operatively connected to said clamping and combination blades; and

(c) a connecting link, one end of which is pivotally attached to said first lever at a point spaced from the pivot of said first lever and the other end of which is attached to the other end of said bell crank lever.

5. A clamping and cutting device as set forth in claim 4 wherein the end of said bell crank lever which is operatively connected to said clamping and combination blades is bifurcated, one of said bifurcations being operatively connected to said clamping blade and the other of said bifurcations being operatively connected to said combination blade.

6. A clamping and cutting device as set forth in claim 5 wherein each of said bifurcations has a slot and said clamping and combination blades each have a projection 10 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1956 Consoletti 139--263 4/1968 Payne 139122 HENRY S. JAUDON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 139263 

